Such conveyor devices usually have a receiving rail with which a neck of the container to be guided engages. The containers are moved with respect to this receiving rail by means of air pressure acting on the upper areas of the containers.
It is also known from the state of the art that the lower areas of the containers and/or their bodies can be guided at the sides in particular to prevent extreme swaying or wobbling of the containers during conveyance.
WO 2004/099042 A1 describes a conveyor section having adjustable guide rails and an actuator drive. The lateral distance of the adjustable rails can be adjusted by means of this actuator drive and thus there can be an adjustment to containers of different diameters. This device has an air conduction box, which is constantly supplied with air by several fans arranged so they are offset in the direction of conveyance.
However, it is often desirable to be able to adjust these adjustable rails for guiding the containers not only to the diameter of the containers but also to be able to displace them in the longitudinal direction of the containers and/or in the height of the containers. It is possible in this way to make an adjustment to different container heights. It should be noted that, depending on the height of the containers, different heights at which the respective adjustable guide rails are arranged may also be desirable for ideal guidance.
WO 2004/067420 A1 discloses a conveyor device for plastic containers. This conveyor device and/or the rails for the containers are displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the containers and/or in the height of the containers. However, the individual guide devices are each displaced separately by independent adjusting mechanisms. This leads to a great complexity in manufacturing and operation because a number of adjusting mechanisms that are independent of one another, including hydraulic cylinders and the like, must be provided.
It is described in WO 2004/067420 that even two guide devices opposing one another with respect to the direction of conveyance of the containers can be adjusted in a coupled arrangement, but this does not yield any significant savings in terms of drive complexity because a plurality of such guide elements must be arranged along the guide section of the containers to be able to raise or lower a railing as a whole. In addition, the coupling mechanism described in WO 2004/067420 for the opposing guide mechanism is very complicated and access is very difficult.
EP 1 409 385 B1 and DE 299 02 470 U1 describe pneumatic conveyors of the generic type which are also known.